


can't keep me down

by ObscureReference



Series: immortal trio au [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drowning, Gen, Immortality, Mild Gore, Psychological Trauma, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 15:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13320897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: Finally, Laslow quietly said, “…I look gross.”It took a moment for the words to click.Oh, Selena thought.





	can't keep me down

**Author's Note:**

> Another immortal Trio fic! This is what I meant to write when I somehow finished that Leo/Odin fic I posted yesterday instead. 
> 
> I love Severa/Selena. She's my fav gal. Owain/Odin is my fav overall, but I should really write Severa/Selena more because I really do love her a lot.
> 
> I'll expand on the semi-spoilery warnings in the notes below! So scroll down there first if you feel like there may be certain topics about the themes of this fic (death, injury, etc.) that you are uncomfortable with and want to prepare yourself/read something else. There are no hard feelings if you do! For everyone else, I hope you enjoy!

“Hey, hey,” Keaton said, practically shoving himself under Selena’s arm. She was wet and dirty, and he was audibly sniffing. “Are you all right? You smell really weird.”

With the blood and dirt smeared around his mouth, he looked more wolfish than ever. Selena swatted him away.

“You’re not supposed to point things like that out to women,” she berated. She was limping her way back to camp, and it was difficult to move very quickly with Keaton underfoot. She was too sore to move very quickly anyway, but Keaton was a good excuse. Her pants were chafing and bunching uncomfortably from the water, and her lungs ached with every breath.

Keaton sniffed loudly. “You’re not?”

“ _No_ ,” Selena said. “And anyway, we just finished a big battle. What am I supposed to smell like? Roses?”

She wouldn’t allow herself to limp. It was getting easier to resist the urge with every step.

“You never smell like roses anyway,” Keaton said bluntly. He was lucky she didn’t swat at him again for such honesty. “After battle, you usually smell like blood and sweat and all that good stuff. But…” He sniffed again. She really wished he would stop doing that. “You smell like all that, but you smell like pain too. And death, but different than the good death smell. Are you hurt?”

His big eyes really did remind her of a dog. She made sure not to look him in the eye lest he see through her as well as he could apparently smell her.

Selena sighed. “I’m fine. It’s all superficial stuff. I have a Concoction back in my tent anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Keaton asked. “You really smell weird. You’re all wet and muddy too. Did you go for a swim?”

Keaton’s mouth twisted with confusion and concern. He would have looked cuter if he were actually clean and didn’t have a twig stuck in that mane he called a hairstyle.

Still, Selena wasn’t totally heartless. She appreciated the concern. It was nice, every now and again. Not that she needed it.

“Stop telling me I smell weird!” Selena said loudly. They were at the outskirts of camp now and several heads turned at the noise, but they looked away quickly once they realized who was speaking. They were used to her and Keaton by now. “Listen, I’ll come find you later, so you can sniff me all you want then, okay? I just want to lay down for now.”

Keaton perked up instantly. “Really? Promise?”

Selena sighed and immediately regretted it. Her chest burned, but she couldn’t let it show. She blinked her eyelids rapidly to clear the sudden tears and pretended to look somewhere off in the distance.

“Yeah, sure,” she said. “Can I go now?”

“Just make sure to find me later, or I’ll find you first!”

Keaton couldn’t find himself out of a paper bag. She refrained from saying so. He also had no sense of personal space, so he brushed way too close to her for any normal person’s comfort as he said goodbye. Selena was gracious enough to let it slide. She continued the slow trek back to her tent.

With Keaton gone, no one was looking at her anymore. No one suspected anything. No one could have known that only a few minutes ago, Selena had pushed herself out of a stream, gagging as she coughed up so much water and mud that her whole body quaked with the agony of it. She’d rested on trembling forearms, too exhausted to keep anything but her face above the water.

Swiping her arm across her eyes to clear her vision had only succeeded in smearing more sludge on her face. The water had been murky with blood and churned up grit. The fight hadn’t finished; she’d choked on more water as someone’s stomping boot splashed the stream in her face. Whether or not they were on her side, they didn’t notice her.

There had been a pain in her ribcage unlike the burn of drowning. It had felt more like the pull of sliced skin, of an open would. Selena had ignored it and pushed herself up anyway. She’d told herself that it wouldn’t matter eventually. And it didn’t. Now, with the battle over and the report to Lady Camilla done, Selena could barely feel the once fatal wound at all.

She was almost feeling normal again when she peeled back the flap of her tent and saw the hunched silhouette of a figure crouched at the farthest end of the tent.

Her hand flew to the handle of her sword. “Who the hell—”

_“Shh!”_

Selena swiftly ducked into the tent and let the flap fall closed behind her. She recognized that figure now, dark as it was.

“Laslow?” she whispered. “What are you doing in here? If you were digging around in my stuff for some gross reason…” She let the threat hang.

“I wasn’t,” Laslow said quietly. It would have been difficult to make out his features in the shadows even if he had been facing her. His words sounded almost slurred.

She frowned. “Are you okay?” Obviously they were always okay. But there was something about Laslow’s voice that set her on edge.

“You sound weird,” she said, an echo of Keaton.

Laslow took his time answering. Tired of crouching under the low ceiling, Selena lowered herself to the floor. She was exhausted.

“That was some battle, huh?” Laslow said. His voice definitely sounded weird. “A real rough one.”

“Yeah,” Selena sighed. She didn’t die often. She didn’t even get injured that badly very often. They might have been basically immortal now, but she didn’t like to press her luck. She wasn’t careless either. None of them were. Pain sucked. She was pretty sure Odin and Laslow both agreed.

The silence dragged on. Laslow still hadn’t given her a real answer.

“So why are you in _my_ tent?” She wasn’t really annoyed, but she realized how it sounded anyway.

“Your tent was closer,” Laslow admitted.

“Closer for what? Can you just come over here already? I can’t even see you.”

She’d barely moved—an inch, maybe, if that—but Laslow reacted as though she’d struck him. His whole body flinched, curling away from her, and there was desperation in his voice as he begged, “No! Don’t look, please!”

Selena froze. “What? Why?” She leaned back in her seat even as she complained. “Even if you’re hurt, you should be healing, right? What’s the big deal? Just let me see you.”

“Selena, _please_.”

Her whole body ached. Her lungs and throat were still sore. Selena wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep for a hundred years. She would have thought Laslow did too.

She sighed. “Calm down. I’m not going anywhere.” She stared up at a stained corner of tent canvas. “Can you at least say why? You’re in _my_ tent, after all.”

Laslow said nothing.

Two could play that game, obviously, so Selena waited in silence, even as worry began to drift into her mind. She shifted uncomfortably. Laslow would heal if he was hurt, right? Had something else happened? There were a lot of things they’d been confronted with after arriving in this new world, their own lack of mortality just being one of many. Selena dreaded the thought of anything getting worse.

Finally, Laslow quietly said, “…I look gross.”

It took a moment for the words to click.

_Oh_ , Selena thought.

“I’m healing,” Laslow continued quietly. “But it’s not as fast as I would like. I’m afraid I don’t quite look myself.”

He laughed self-deprecatingly. There was something wrong about that sound too. A gurgle that shouldn’t have been there.

Selena suddenly didn’t want to press him anymore. Her shoulders fell.

A rough battle. Yeah.

“Um.” She turned so she faced the opening of the tent instead of the back where Laslow sat. Only a sliver of light streamed through the thing opening, barely reaching the tip of her shoe. She’d been averting her eyes already, but now Selena made an even bigger point of staring anywhere but Laslow’s direction. “I have an extra Concoction in my chest over there. If you want it.”

“A Concoction?” Laslow echoed, sounding hopeful. “Really? Selena, you’re a lifesaver.”

Selena frowned even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “Yeah, I know I’m great. So stop waiting around and take it already.”

There was some shuffling behind her as Laslow moved. None of them needed medical supplies like that, not really. Not anymore. They healed fast enough from superficial wounds that Concoctions and Vulnerarys were unnecessary. But Selena had figured it didn’t hurt to be prepared. What if somebody else needed it in an emergency? It was good to keep up appearances anyway.

If Laslow needed extra help now with his already extraordinary healing, he must have looked really awful.

It seemed to take forever before Laslow found what he was looking for. Selena heard the tell-tale pop of the cork as he opened the bottle. She waited.

After a moment, Laslow said, “Why do you even have a Concoction lying around anyway?”

He sounded more like himself already. Selena’s shoulders dropped with relief.

“For situations like this, genius.”

“You’re certainly smarter than me, Selena As beautiful as you are wise. I owe you a cup of tea for this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t try to make it sound like that’s a favor for me.”

There was another rustle of cloth, a click as Laslow shut her chest. Selena imagined he shrugged, that same weird smile he always wore on his face.

“Perceptive as ever,” Laslow sighed. “Oh well. I’ll still owe you in some other way.”

Was the Concoction working? Did Anankos’ magic and whatever ingredients that went into making potions even mix well together? Why wasn’t Laslow telling her she could look yet? Selena bit her tongue to keep from saying anything too hasty. Instead she said, “If you really want to make it up to me, you can help carry my things the next time I go into town.”

Laslow made a sound like he was wounded. “Ah! You’ve got me trapped this time. But I certainly owe you for this, don’t I?”

“Absolutely. I’ll see you our next free afternoon.” Selena squirmed.

A beat passed.

“I think you can look now,” Laslow said, somewhat hesitant.

Selena spun.

Laslow looked…

Normal.

His clothes were tattered and dirty, and his hair needed detangling. The right side of his face and the collar of his shirt were smeared with blood both old and new. Like a wound had bled for so long that the old blood had dried only for a fresh wave of blood to continue to pour. It was almost nauseating to look at.

But Laslow looked normal. Whole. She wondered how decidedly un-whole he’d looked before and then decided she didn’t want to know.

Selena swallowed. She grabbed a discarded rag from the ground and threw it at him. To his benefit, Laslow caught it, despite his clear surprise.

“Hey there!” Laslow chided.

“There’s a mirror over there,” Selena told him, gesturing to another pile of clothes and knickknacks. “Clean yourself up. You need it.”

Laslow smiled gratefully. Selena sprawled across the floor of the tent as he wiped the worst of the grime from his face. They both pretended she wasn’t watching.

Selena made a mental list of things she still needed to do. It was late enough in the evening that there wasn’t much that could still be accomplished under only torchlight, but there were still obligations to take care of. Lady Camilla was probably conferring with all her siblings now. Selena had to be there when they finished to offer Lady Camilla dinner and listen to what tasks needed to be done, as well as what their next move would be.

She craved a bath. Badly. But then she thought of the water washing over her face, the helplessness she’d felt as a boot had pressed into her back, holding her down as she struggled in the shallow water, the wound in her side screaming—

No, she decided. She didn’t need a bath that desperately. She could wet a cloth with some spare canteen water and scrub herself down until tomorrow. Everybody and their brother probably wanted to use the wells and springs right now anyway.

“Well?” Laslow said. “How do I look?”

Selena realized he had finished without her noticing. She blinked. The world came into focus again. Laslow looked expectant and marginally cleaner than before.

“Passable,” she decided.

Laslow pouted. “Only passable?”

“Upgrade your wardrobe and take a bath,” she said, not really meaning it. “Then come back to me.”

Laslow sighed melodramatically. “Dear Selena, crusher of hearts.”

He was smiling. Strained, but a smile.

“Be quiet,” Selena said. “Hey, have you even reported to Lord Xander yet?”

Laslow winced. Obviously not.

Selena sat up. “What are you doing here then? Get out of here before he starts to worry!”

“Lord Xander, worry?” Laslow said. “Certainly not.” But he didn’t look convinced.

She threw another rag at his face. Ugh, she really needed to clean her tent. Not today though, and the way Laslow ducked to dodge her throw was satisfying.

“It’s not like I could have gone straight to Lord Xander first!” Laslow defended himself, making a dive for the exit. “It wouldn’t be proper! There would be questions!”

“Go now!”

Laslow didn’t wait to be told again. He rushed out of the tent, and Selena collapsed back to the floor as soon as he was gone. She was too tired to unravel her bedroll. She reminded herself that she still had to get up and get back to work in a moment, though she could do with a change of clothes first.

It wasn’t often that any of them died, she mentally repeated. It wasn’t even often that any of them were seriously injured. No injury that they knew of could kill them permanently, they realized now, but the wounds still hurt. _Death_ hurt. More than she’d expected.

The three of them always fought to their very last breath. They always fought until they couldn’t anymore. Until they weren’t enough.

She huffed, ignoring the hair that had fallen in her mouth.

It was amazing, really. Years and years of fighting two wars—the first Ylisse that they’d lost, then the second they’d held onto with stiff fingers—and it was the third war that killed them. Not that they stayed dead. She wasn’t sure what kind of luck that was.

Gods, her hands were trembling. It felt like she was underwater again. She clenched her fists tightly until she felt steady.

Selena gave herself until the count of ten. At ten, she forced herself to her feet and stripped off her damp clothes, tossing them aside. She shrugged on another outfit, a new pair of dry boots, and got to work.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Semi-Spoiler Warnings Expanded** : A character is described coming back to life after drowning and also being injured from battle. The injury is not described in depth other than location and general "this is how I know I have an injury" feeling. This character is implied/described to be shaken up because of the death/resurrection. Another character is heavily implied to be badly injured, especially in the face/neck region, but it is never graphically described. Blood is mentioned and described several times, especially as evidence of past wounds, but specifics of wounds are not described graphically. Death is discussed several times. I hope this helps.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/)


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